Oihane Mateos, EITB digital news chief, dies at 45

Oihane Mateos, head of Digital News at EITB and the executive responsible for the Orain news service, died Aug. 8 at the age of 45, according to an announcement from EITB. The organization did not provide a cause of death.

Mateos was from Ibarra and spent her professional life closely connected to EITB. She began as an intern at Euskadi Irratia before moving through several programs at Euskal Telebista. She later worked as a reporter and presenter for “Gaur Egun” and “Teleberri” and directed the ETB2 program “De Boca en Boca.”

In 2022, Mateos was appointed head of Digital News. In that role, she directed EITB's news services on the web and social media and became closely involved in the broadcaster's newsroom transformation.

EITB said in its obituary that Mateos devoted substantial effort to changing the newsroom and that its Orain digital news service began under her leadership. She remained responsible for Orain until her death.

The service developed through several public launches. In December 2023, EITB introduced WhatsApp Orain, a Basque-language audiovisual news service designed around mobile use. The broadcaster said the product would emphasize video and images, offer a more direct style than conventional newscasts and target audiences under 30 in particular. Mateos participated in the launch as head of Digital News.

In June 2024, Orain Berriak received a Platinum Customer Experience Award for best IT project in Public Administration. Mateos and EITB systems director Iñaki Regidor accepted the award.

EITB expanded the project again in June 2025 with the launch of the Orain platform. The site was presented as a new digital news space combining current reporting in Basque and Spanish with video, photography, live streams and mobile-oriented formats. At the time, EITB said its digital community exceeded four million users. Mateos appeared at the presentation alongside senior EITB officials and the coordinator of the Orain service.

Her career therefore spanned a period in which broadcast journalism changed significantly. She entered the organization through radio, worked in television news and eventually led services designed for audiences who receive information through websites, messaging platforms, social networks and mobile apps.

EITB's statement focused on that institutional contribution as well as on the personal loss felt by colleagues, friends and family. The organization described her professional life as closely tied to journalism and to EITB itself.

The public record does not support speculation about the circumstances of her death. What is confirmed is the timing, her age and the professional roles that made her an important figure in EITB's digital strategy.

Mateos's death removes a serving newsroom leader at a relatively young age. It also leaves a visible professional legacy in Orain, a service that moved EITB's public-interest news operation further into the digital environment while retaining the newsroom she had known from the beginning of her career.